


huckleberry

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crystal Gems, F/F, Gen, Origin Story, Stevenbomb, Stevenbomb 4.0, War Era, garnet exploring the world with the ambiguously gay duo rose and pearl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5647750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anecdotes of Garnet's early days joining the Crystal Gems and discovering the world.</p><p>4. Identity. Garnet needs some validation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> the meaning behind a huckleberry flower is 'simple pleasure'. i thought it fit garnet's innocence pretty well.  
> SO THAT BOMB HUH  
> i am 2000 percent in love with garnet being adorable innocent cotton candy child, and also rose and pearl teaching her the ways of the rebellion and the simple pleasures of the planet earth.

“Come on,” came the voice she was oh so terrified of. “You can do it. You just need to apply yourself!”

“B-But I don't understand,” Garnet mumbled, scared to look the small pearl in the eye. “I've never summoned a weapon in this form before. R-Ruby seems to understand what to do, but Sapphire-”

“Has Sapphire never summoned a weapon before?” Rose asked, also surprised. “But I suppose that makes sense. Blue Diamond's aristocrats seem to have very little opportunity to draw weapons, they just allow their hired rubies and jaspers to take care of trouble.”

“I-I've – I mean, _Sapphire_ has summoned a weapon before!” Garnet defended, quick to defend her gems. “But it was such a long time ago, I – she – has... lost her touch with it.”

“Unacceptable.” Pearl sighed. “You need to dedicate yourself to your cause, Garnet! It's not easy to do, but through hard work and dedication you can align yourself with every part of your gem begging to fight! You can perform your dance, bring forth your weapon of mass destruction! Fusions are _designed_ for this purpose, I don't think I've ever heard of a fusion who couldn't-”

“Pearl.” Rose laid a hand on Pearl's shoulder and she fell silent. “That's enough. Give Garnet a chance. She is a brand new gem, she needs time to adjust.”

“I don't want to fight,” Garnet snapped, squaring up to Pearl. A bit too much of Ruby was peeking out, and her fear was lost in her desire to defend Sapphire. “Rose told me I was _love_. Love shouldn't be a destructive force, it should... b-bring gems together! And what about _you_? Do you have a weapon to speak of, because back at the sky arena you were using swords that were in no way a part of your gem!”

Pearl's ivory cheeks flushed a warm teal.

“I-I can summon a weapon, Garnet, I am more than capable! But my weapon was not suitable for that altercation!”

“Go on, then. Show me.”

Pearl glared at her, before glancing over at Rose pleadingly. Rose seemed amused by the turn of events.

“Go on, Pearl. I think you _should_ show Garnet what she can achieve through hard work, don't you?”

“Fine,” Pearl huffed. “Try and learn from my example, Garnet.”

“I'm watching,” Garnet replied dryly.

Pearl raised her arms, her hands encircling her gem, before throwing in a few ballet moves that Garnet didn't find too much purpose in other than to reinforce the 'weapon dance' lecture. Then, with a flourish, a small pearly white handle emerged from the centre of her gem. She grabbed it with one hand and drew it out quickly, tossing it into the air and catching it again. A spiralling pearl spear stood proud at her side, and Garnet's eyes widened. In hindsight, it seemed that the spear wouldn't do much good in a close range battle at all.

“See?” she said proudly, twirling her spear. “Through hard work and dedication, you too can have a weapon as beautiful and powerful as mine.”

Garnet stared.

“What?” Now Pearl was beginning to look a little embarrassed. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing, I just...” Sapphire's voice spoke a little meekly. “I've never met a pearl before that could summon a weapon. Or one that could talk a gem's ear off like that.”

Rose giggled and Pearl huffed, clearly not pleased at the latter comment.

“She really is something else, isn't she Garnet?” Rose slung an arm around Pearl and grinned. “I love that about her.”

Pearl blushed further with the praise, and Garnet couldn't believe that this frankly intimidating and dangerous pearl had been reduced to a shy little thing in just a few days of knowing her.

“Anyway,” Pearl muttered, once Rose's laughter had died down, “there you have it. My weapon. If a pearl can do it, surely a fusion should have no problem accomplishing it!”

“Maybe I should take over,” Rose suggested, noting Garnet's confidence melt away again as she was faced with the original dilemma.

“If you insist. I'm going to spar by myself,” Pearl dismissed, lingering under Rose's touch for a few moments more before slipping away and summoning a hologram pearl wielding a holographic blade which Garnet imagined must have some sort of mass to it. Pearl dissolved her spear and summoned a forged sword from her gem, before setting to work. The sound of clashing swords filled the air, and Rose smiled.

“She's a hard worker, that one,” she said with a laugh. “Anyway, I'll be your teacher from this point onwards, Garnet.”

“I have half a weapon down,” Garnet said quickly. She summoned Ruby's signature boxing glove, which didn't quite fit on her hand anymore, instead resting in her palm. “But I have no idea how to summon Sapphire's. And even if I did, what use will it be in these hands? I'm not them, not completely. I'm too clumsy to wield their weapons and do any proper damage.”

“Well, we can always set you up with some swords. We know human settlements where you can have one forged,” Rose said quickly. “But maybe your weapon could become something better... something more you. If you can somehow mesh them, that is.”

“How can I, if I can't even summon Sapphire's weapon?” Garnet demanded, frustrated. It was a little easier to get mad at Rose, since she had the patience of a saintly gem, and still somehow managed to keep smiling the entire time. “I don't understand, Rose Quartz. Please just tell me how to do this.”

“I can't give you all the answers, Garnet,” Rose said gently. “It isn't because I don't want to, but because I have never fused with a gem of a different caste before. I have only ever fused on rare occasions with other quartz gems, and Ruby knows it's different to your existence. I will help you discover the answers, but I can't give you what I don't know.”

Figured. Garnet sighed heavily and clenched her sapphire-gemmed fist.

“Come on,” she muttered in a hard voice. “Come on. You've done this before, Sapphire, you've done this before, so why can't you remember? You remember... everything-” Her voice changed suddenly, cutting through her own thought. “Garnet, no! Sapphire's future vision, it probably – it probably messes things up in her head sometimes, she probably doesn't remember the past as well as the future, so please-”

A harsh finger snap brought Garnet out of her inner turmoil, and Rose was staring at her in concern.

“Garnet, are you all right?”

“I'm fine.”

Clearly she wasn't, but Rose Quartz had already done enough for her.

“Look,” she said after a few moments. “I want you to try a meditation exercise with me.”

She sat down on the soft grass and motioned for Garnet to follow suit. Garnet obliged awkwardly, dissolving her boxing glove.

“Now clear your mind. Your emotions are distracting you. You're panicking, thinking you have something to prove. Sometimes Pearl's teaching methods aren't always the best, so we're going to take it easy, okay?”

Rose could say that again. Garnet spared a passing glance at Pearl, fighting against two holopearls with one hand tied behind her back, and sighed. Maybe pushing herself to poofing point was an effective method for _her,_ but intimidation tactics had never been Sapphire's style, and that apparently remained true to Garnet. How interesting. She smiled a little at the thought of the two gems residing in her subconscious, gently cheering her on from the sidelines. It was comforting that she wasn't completely alone.

“Okay. I'm... clearing my mind-” A thought occurred to Garnet and her eyes snapped back open again. “Rose, I shouldn't try to – try to block them out, should I?”

“No, no, I didn't mean that,” Rose said hurriedly. “We don't know what might happen if you should do that. Please keep Ruby and Sapphire close to you, just... allow yourself to relax. Try and let negative thoughts flood out from you.”

That she could try. The words of the Homeworld gems were still fresh in her mind, and everything Ruby and Sapphire had ever known about fusion seemed so... ridiculous now. When they felt this alive, who could say that was an abomination? Why become a larger version of yourself when you could become someone new, someone loving and complete?

Her breathing slowed, and Rose took it as a good sign.

“Now. I want you to delve deep into Sapphire's subconscious, and try to remember what her weapon looked like. Can you do that for me?”

Garnet nodded, and furrowed her brow, closing two of three eyes. The third rolled back, thinking hard, trying to track down every last piece of Sapphire's memory of the time Blue Diamond's life was at stake and her pearl had been poofed. It wasn't easy, because it had all been a blur of shouts and Blue Diamond's pearl exploding into a cloud of dust, and the knowledge that Sapphire had known this day would come but still had no idea how to summon her weapon. She had just... done it. It had been instinctive, the urge to save a life that came to her when Blue Diamond had been ready to crush Ruby. It was all instinct.

“It was white,” she rasped, eye lolling back further. Pearl noticed the sight and grimaced, which Rose quickly put a stop to, shooing her back to training with one hand. “It was white, with spikes.”

“Keep going,” soothed Rose. So Garnet did.

It was all so fast, but it had materialised on her hand. It had fit so perfectly, protecting her gem, protecting Blue Diamond – there had been a jolt of something powerful, and then clouds of smoke. A gem dropping to the floor, a citrine, thank goodness. A defective citrine who had been on a lone mission to assassinate the diamonds. She had stopped it and been praised. But she kept thinking about the small weapon on her hand, protecting her and protecting others around her.

“A knuckleduster,” Garnet breathed. “That's what it was, a white knuckleduster with spikes! I stopped a citrine with it!”

Her palms opened, and both gems began to glow. Both she and Rose watched on with bated breath, Garnet's third eye having rolled back into place after the recollection. To her absolute relief, a white knuckleduster rested (knuckles facing upwards) in her hand.

“You did it!” Rose clapped her hands, and Garnet blushed at her praise. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Pearl command a holopearl to crank up it's difficulty level to advanced mode.

“Well, what a beautiful weapon we have here,” Rose commented, peering a little closer. “But I wonder... will it fit on your hand?”

Garnet went to try and slip it on, and found her fingers wouldn't even fit through the holes.

“...No, it doesn't look like it,” sighed Garnet, slumping in defeat.

“Hey, don't let it get you down,” Rose pleaded. “Come on, Garnet. I have faith in you, but maybe we're not going about this the right way. These weapons need to be more in sync, like you are. In sync with your fusion instead of your individual gems. Lets try another exercise?”

Garnet nodded, and closed her eyes.

“Okay, first of all, dissolve the weapons. We need a clean slate. Now you know how to summon them, the next part is going to take a bit more thinking.”

The weapons left her hands, and Garnet tried to clean her mind, even if it was proving difficult with Pearl swinging her sword so close to them.

“All right. Perhaps a mantra would help you align yourself with your weapons? Let's see... you are not Ruby. You are not Sapphire. You are not two gems, but one. You are Garnet.”

She paused, and Garnet realised she was supposed to be repeating.

“I am not Ruby. I am not Sapphire. I am not two gems, but one. I am Garnet.”

“You are not a war machine. You are love. You are yourself. You are Garnet.”

“I am not a war machine. I am love. I am myself. I am Garnet.”

“These hands are yours. These gems are yours. If you choose to fight, you do it for your own reasons. You are Garnet.”

“These hands are mine. These gems are mine. If I choose to fight, I do it for my own reasons. I am Garnet.”

“Now, Garnet. Look inside yourself. Why does Ruby fight? Why does Sapphire fight?”

“Look inside myse- oh, wait.” She blushed. Stupid, stupid... she hadn't realised Rose had finished the mantra. Cursing inwardly (and fighting off the sympathetic waves of _it's okay, you didn't know_ coming from her components) she delved deep into her conjoined memories, sifting through Ruby's and Sapphire's simultaneously, on occasion getting them very muddled. It was... confusing. And completely overwhelming.

“Ruby... she fights because she's told to. That's why she's always done it, r-rubies are _supposed_ to want to fight.”

“But is that why she _wants_ to fight?”

Garnet paused.

“Why she wants to?”

That was something she had to think a little harder about.

“Well... she wanted to protect Sapphire. Knowing that she couldn't... knowing that Sapphire expected her to fail just made her even more determined. S-So I suppose she fought... because she knew if she wouldn't, nobody else would?”

Garnet's gems were beginning to tingle, and Rose's voice held a waver of excitement as she breathed, “Go on.”

“And Sapphire... well, she just knew that she had to save Ruby. Nothing else made sense, her future vision was ruined, but she knew she had to do _something_... she couldn't allow Ruby to die after showing her something so precious. She was... they were f-fighting for _me_!”

In the midst of her epiphany her weapons materialised once more – except this time, no knuckleduster emerged, and no boxing glove either. Her hands felt heavy, much too heavy, and she gasped out and opened her eyes.

Both hands were gone, instead replaced by gauntlets that were heavy to lift and looked like they could easily crush a gemstone if she so wished. She stared.

“Oh, Garnet!” gasped Rose. “Pearl, come over here!”

Pearl's holopearls stopped mid-swing and she hurried over, a hand clapping over her mouth.

“Oh my goodness! They have the same weapon?”

“No, this is something new entirely,” Rose explained, holding one up and examining it. They were a splotched pink and blue, like the rest of Garnet was, but they were marbled beautifully. Garnet couldn't stop staring at them. “Look, see? The combined weaponry of a boxing glove and a knuckleduster created... gauntlets. Even the weapons fused! This is just extraordinary!”

A few moments later they dissolved, and Garnet flexed her fingers, watching on in silent joy as Rose and Pearl conversed quietly over the opportunities this could present. Finally, Pearl turned back to Garnet, and offered a nod of both acceptance and... pride?

“You did it,” Pearl commented, her voice warm. “You performed your dance. You found your weapon, and they are beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Garnet murmured, surprised at herself too. “I... thank you.”

 

 


	2. Animal Fusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2\. Animal Fusion. Garnet learns that there are many different ways to define fusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol remember how i was like this might not update regularly. and then i post another chapter the very next day. incredible  
> NSFW WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> like it's not really explicit but??? it's still nsfw i guess

Garnet didn't mean to intrude, although that was a mantra she'd been repeatedly promising in the whole two weeks of her existence, so maybe by this point it didn't even feel like intruding anymore. She really needed to work on her confidence if she was going to stay together like this long-term. Rose and Pearl certainly hadn't put a sign on the outside of their base telling Garnet not to come in at any given time, so she just... assumed that it would be open access at all times. Silly her.

At any rate, she didn't mean to intrude upon their rather intense display. Rather, she'd heard a moan that sounded like a cross between Pearl and a wild animal, and was overcome with the panic that Homeworld troops had found the base and were torturing her and Rose, so without thinking ahead or even _looking ahead_ (Sapphire was still adjusting to having hundreds of new futures being tossed her way at any given moment) she had barged in with her gauntlets out, ready to raise hell. Instead, she was met by the sight of Pearl's body devoid of clothes and flushed teal all over, and Rose's curls protruding from between her extremely bony legs.

Garnet didn't know what to think. She'd certainly never seen a display like this before, and it didn't look like Rose was making any attempts to stop whatever torture she was laying down on Pearl either, so she cleared her throat.

“Wh-What's going on here?”

Rose and Pearl froze. Pearl's face could not have turned bluer if she tried, and Rose quickly moved away and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, before turning to address Garnet. She too was incredibly flushed. Pearl's clothes re-materialised a few moments later, and she leapt to her feet, blushing from head to toe.

“G-Garnet!” stammered Rose, trying her hardest to explain away the mess they were in. “This... this isn't what it looks like, honest!”

“You weren't punishing her,” stated Garnet, furrowing her brow. “That's good. She looked like she was enjoying it.”

The two guilty parties exchanged glances and blushed.

“Of course I wasn't punishing her! We Crystal Gems don't punish each other!” Rose laughed a little too nervously. “It was... well... _our_ version of fusion, if we're being frank.”

This certainly got Garnet's attention.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, w-well, you know...” Pearl fiddled with the bottom of her shirt, and Garnet noted that her legs were still trembling like they were when Rose's head was between them. “L-Love.”

“Oh.” Garnet nodded, absorbing this information. She had kind of figured that Rose and Pearl had a love affair of sorts going on, but... their fusion certainly didn't look anything like Garnet's. “I don't think I understand. How was that fusion?”

They sat down on the soft grassy floor of the secret base, and Rose took Pearl's hand in her own.

“You see, Garnet. Humans can't really... fuse like gems can. In fact, I didn't think gems were capable of a fusion of love, until we met you.” Garnet blushed herself at that, and Rose cracked a smile. “But there's this way of closeness, that the creatures of this planet possess, and we stumbled across it very recently. It feels really good, and... well, fusion is about making yourself feel good, together. Right?”

Garnet hesitated, before nodding. It was true that the second time Ruby and Sapphire fused was because they wanted to be closer, and that made them feel good, didn't it?

“I think so, yes.”

“What me and Pearl were doing was... animal fusion. I suppose.”

“Animal fusion,” Garnet repeated, trying to wrap her head around it. She looked up again. “Is it like... k-kissing?”

“You know about kissing?” Rose sat up a little straighter.

“Not me, but... Ruby and Sapphire have... um, right before they fused,” Garnet confessed.

Pearl was more than happy to accept that answer.

“Yes, that's – what we were doing, it's very similar to kissing!”

“But not on the face?”

“But not on the face. Exactly.” Rose snapped her fingers. “I'm so glad we were able to have this talk, Garnet.”

“Well, you two love each other,” Garnet stated. Rose and Pearl glanced at each other before nodding, exchanging shy smiles. “But you've never...? Um, fused?”

“Oh! Um, no, we haven't. It's something we haven't tried yet. We didn't even realise such a thing was possible until you came along, you know.”

Garnet blushed and bit her lip.

“Well... i-if you ever get bored of animal fusion...”

“Do you think you could teach us, Garnet?” Rose asked enthusiastically. “Oh, how wonderful that would be! ...Of course, if you would consent to it, my Pearl.”

Pearl seemed extremely flattered by the idea, but also hesitant.

“I... I _want_ to, I promise I do, it's just... the idea of... of you disappearing is... well, a bit frightening to me.”

When she put it like that, the idea of losing Rose Quartz was frightening to Garnet too. Rose merely laughed.

“What? I won't have just suddenly vanished! I'll be a part of someone new, someone beautiful and strong and exciting... and you'll be there too, Pearl. It's impossible to get any closer than fusion.”

“Well, there is that...” Pearl chewed her lip. “The truth is, the idea of myself, a pearl, fusing with you is... kind of scandalous.”

“I'd say our rebellion is pretty scandalous already, wouldn't you?” giggled Rose. “The whole of Homeworld already wants to hang our gems on the wall, Pearl. Surely fusion is just... the next act of defiance. Garnet accomplished it, and look how happy she is!”

“I suppose...” Pearl swallowed and clasped her hands together. She took a deep breath. “I suppose we could give it a try.”

“Oh, thank you, Pearl! I'm so excited!” Rose jumped to her feet, pulling Pearl up with her in a bone-crushing hug. She turned to Garnet. “Well, how did it happen the first time? I was busy trying to shield Pearl from the crossfire.”

Garnet thought back to the moment of her birth, and smiled. “Sapphire had accepted her defeat. She knew that Pearl was going to force her to retreat into her gem, and she was okay with that, because...” Garnet's jaw dropped suddenly, and her gaze tore over to the two of them. “Sapphire had seen you getting captured that day. If Ruby hadn't fused with her, the rebellion would have been unsuccessful, and you would have been shattered!”

Rose and Pearl stared at her.

“Y-You're sure?”

“Sapphire had never seen an incorrect future until that day. If Ruby hadn't fused with her, it would have come true.” Garnet clenched her fists, and flinched when Rose's warm hand rested atop hers.

“Thank you, Garnet. You... saved us? That's amazing! To think we would have been captured... we really need to work on our strategies, don't we Pearl?”

Pearl shrugged. “I suppose so. But we survived that battle, thanks to Garnet. What's important is that they didn't get us.”

“So Ruby fused to protect Sapphire,” Rose concluded. “But Pearl and I can hold our own in battle. We don't need to protect each other for the most part.”

“That's not the point,” Garnet tried to reinforce. “They fused because Ruby knew that Sapphire couldn't possibly be right. Sapphire couldn't possibly think she was incapable of protecting her! It was about how they felt, not about what they knew they themselves were capable of.”

Rose hummed, deep in thought.

“...I don't know if we'd be able to do it to protect one another just yet. Pearl here rather has a habit of throwing herself in front of blows intended for me, so usually she's in her gem when things get bad. If we could do that it would be great, but... what about the second time you fused? That time you mentioned you intended to do it?”

Garnet remembered that night through her components and couldn't stop the grin that broke out onto her face. “They felt like they would never be alone again, even though they were the only ones there. They kissed... they nearly touched gems... and then they danced.” Garnet paused. “When they danced, their bodies synchronised, and it was easier to fuse. In theory, maybe dancing would work for other gems.”

“Well, that sounds like an easy place to start,” Rose declared with a smile. “I'll let you lead, Pearl, since you're the dancer here.”

“But do you know ballet, Rose?” Pearl asked with a frown, standing up anyway. “I don't see how fusion could result from us being unable to keep up with one another.”

“You have a point.” Rose stood up too. “How did Ruby and Sapphire dance, Garnet?”

“They just... waltzed. They danced so slowly. Just one step after another, together.”

“I'm sure we can find a style of dance that suits both of us, Pearl,” Rose suggested. She took Pearl's hands in her own. “I wonder what we would look like together.”

“Tall, I hope?” Pearl smiled shyly and took the first step. “She would be so beautiful. Hopefully without my nose.”

“Shush, I love your nose and you know it,” Rose ribbed affectionately, leaning down to press the gentlest of kisses. “She'll be beautiful. If Ruby and Sapphire made Garnet, I wonder what Rose Quartz and Pearl will make?”

“It remains to be seen,” Pearl murmured. She moved around in a gentle waltz, watching their feet carefully. “I don't care who we end up as. I know that I'll love her.”

Garnet stood back and watched them, wondering what it would look like for other gems to fuse. She'd never seen another fusion before as herself, and she was anticipating something truly spectacular.

“I bet she'll be theatrical,” Rose sighed, swinging around and giggling as Pearl struggled to maintain balance. “After all, we're both quite the showboaters. She might sing and dance... once she regains her footing, that is.”

“Maybe she'll be a warrior. Or a dancer, or-” Rose stepped on Pearl's foot and tripped as Pearl let out a squeak of pain. With a loud thump, both toppled down onto the floor.

“Woah, are you okay?” gasped Garnet, moving over to peer at them. Rose was slumped on top of Pearl and pushing herself upwards. Her body was shaking with silent laughter.

“At least I didn't poof you?” she giggled, as Pearl lay there winded. “Sorry for being a clumsy dancer, Pearl.”

“M-Maybe next time you should lead, and I'll do the twirls,” Pearl breathed, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Sounds good to me,” Rose grinned, leaning down to meet her lips halfway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shrugs. comment if you have any other ideas??


	3. The Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3\. The Initiation. The fusion pledges her allegiance to the Crystal Gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me two days ago: ahhh im never going to have time to write this!!!  
> me today: third chapter in four days wow hannah wow  
> this takes place immediately after the flashback in the episode ended.

“So I take it you're interested in fighting for this planet.”

“Y-Yes,” stuttered the fusion, hugging herself protectively. Despite the gems having lowered their guards slightly around her, she still found herself fearing the sharp-ended sword carried by the pearl. “It's the only place left for me now. A-And it's beautiful.”

“It is, isn't it?” the rose quartz agreed, smiling brightly. She clapped her hands together. “We appear to have a common goal among us.”

“Of course, you'll need the training,” the pearl scoffed, flicking back her hair with only the tail feather of arrogance. “Lots of it, too.”

“Oh, Pearl, let her breathe,” the quartz replied fondly. “She's only just found herself.”

“That's all fine and dandy, Rose, but sooner or later they'll come back and we need as many in our fight as we can get,” the pearl replied, exasperated. The fusion shrunk away from her. She didn't particularly like the tone that the pearl was using. She'd heard many horror stories from Ruby and Sapphire's ears about this renegade pearl who hated Homeworld and would kill any gem in her path. Clearly they had to be getting this evidence by somewhere, and her aggressiveness, and on the face of a pearl no less, was probably their starting point.

“I understand your point, Pearl, I do,” the rose quartz insisted. She clasped her hands together. “But our new friend here is brand new to everything. If she can hardly find her feet, how do you expect her to draw a weapon and train with you?”

The pearl held her gaze for a few moments before dropping it and rocking back on her heels, steadying herself with her sword. “You're right, of course. It's much too soon. I just want to know if she will be a useful asset to our rebellion, that's all.”

The fusion was beginning to panic. What if she _didn't_ want to fight? Or couldn't summon a weapon? She had no doubt this renegade pearl would slash her gems to pieces with those swords if she ever disobeyed her.

“I-I know that I... that I don't know how to fight and I'm still getting the hang of my form,” she stammered. “But p-please don't break me, I know a rose quartz shouldn't have mercy on me b-but a _pearl_ -”

“Doesn't have any obligation to help you.” The hard edge returned to the pearl's voice and her eyes narrowed. “Just because I am a pearl doesn't mean I will go easy on you. I have no obligation to anyone, especially not a fusion of a Homeworld aristocrat and a soldier.”

The fusion swallowed and took a step back. Quickly the rose quartz intervened.

“Now, now, Pearl, please,” she cut in gently. She put a large hand on the pearl's shoulder. “She didn't mean you any offence, I'm sure. She is still learning, and it is our job to exercise patience.” The quartz cupped the pearl's face in her hands, gently enough that the pearl could break away if she so wished. “I love when you fight your own battles, my Pearl, but please understand what I'm asking of you. This fusion needs our guidance, and getting mad at her for a slip of the tongue only pushes her away.”

The pearl took a deep breath and exhaled, before leaving the hands of the rose quartz and turning to face the fusion.

“You're right, Rose. I'm sorry, er... d-do you have a name of your own?” She glanced back at the rose quartz, who shrugged and turned back to the fusion. The fusion in question stared at her hands, thinking carefully about this.

_That's a good question. Do we – you – have a name of your own?_

_Of course she doesn't, when gems fuse with the same type, they're still... them. When I fused with the other rubies, we still called ourselves Ruby. In fact, we, we didn't even think about it._

_But we – she – she's different. There's never been anyone like her before._

“Maybe the colouration of her gems could give us some clarification?” the quartz asked, holding out her hand as if to ask permission for the fusion's. She handed them over, still in an internal debate.

“Hmm.” The pearl peered at the gems, furrowing her brow. “They look kind of like a ruby's in terms of colour, but... maybe hardness plays a factor too?”

“Do you know the Mohs of your gems?” the pink gem asked the fusion.

She chewed the inside of her cheek. “...Seven.”

“That's less than a ruby and sapphire, right? How strange, the fusion of the two gems ended up lowering the Mohs...”

“Being soft doesn't make her weak,” the pearl said sharply, and the rose quartz nodded.

“Of course not, Pearl. It just surprised me, that's all. So, a gem of a dark reddish pallor, with an Mohs of seven...”

Garnet.

There was a sudden silence in the fusion's usually talkative mind, a clarity of sorts, as the epiphany dawned. It had been there all along, underneath the flurried din of Ruby and Sapphire's thoughts and emotions. Her identity.

“Garnet,” she whispered. She curled her fingers up so they brushed against her gems. “It's Garnet. My name, my gems. They are garnet. I... I am Garnet.”

Rose Quartz and Pearl looked up at her.

“I can see that,” Rose commented, nodding in satisfaction. “Wow. It's lovely to meet you, Garnet.”

“Yes. Lovely to meet you, Garnet.” Pearl sounded a little less enthusiastic about it, but still held out her hand in greeting. As an afterthought, she dropped it. “Ah... but a handshake is... probably not very appropriate when it comes to you, is it?”

Garnet blushed. Instead of taking Pearl's hand, she bowed forwards.

“I-It is a pleasure to meet you, Rose Quartz and Pearl! I humbly request to join your protest against Homeworld!”

“Very good.” Rose's voice was filled with warmth. “Then, without further ado, please make your pledge to ally yourself with us and repeat after me.”

She paused, and when she spoke again, the undertones of Pearl could also be heard, timed so perfectly her voice bared more resemblance to a nearly eclipsing echo of Rose's own.

“Fight for life on the planet Earth,

Defend all human beings, even the ones that you don't understand,

Believe in love that is out of anyone's control,

And then risk everything for it!”

Garnet swallowed and remained bowing, squeezing all three eyes shut tightly.

“Fight f-for life on the planet Earth. Defend all, um-”

“Human beings,” Rose inputted gently. “Even the ones that you don't understand.”

“Defend all human beings. Even the ones you don't understand.”

Garnet clenched her fists, curling her fingertips against each gemstone.

“Believe in love that is out of anyone's control, and risk everything for it!”

At this, she was brought upright and enveloped in warm, soft arms. Pink curls danced around her, and in the haze of pink warmth, a slender pale hand found her shoulder and squeezed.

“Welcome to the Crystal Gems. Our long awaited third member.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW AMAZING WAS YELLOW PEARL THOUGH I COULD HAVE SCREAMED (IN FACT I DID)
> 
> anyway as usual leave a comment please if you liked it or have any ideas for future chapters? c:


	4. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4\. Identity. Garnet needs some validation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated this since the bomb, but finally, here is another installment of huckleberry

Rose immediately noticed when there was something bothering Garnet. For a fusion so quiet most of the time (which Rose often wrote down to Garnet already having two voices constantly residing in her mind), she was very expressive this early in her life, not to mention clingy enough that she refused to stray from the base or either Rose or Pearl for more than a few hours at a time. So the unusually distant, tired atmosphere radiating from her was enough to pull Rose away from the next attack plan she was cooking up and take a long, hard look at the fusion before her.

“Are you all right, Garnet?” she asked. Garnet snapped up from her solitude and blinked.

“Oh. Yes, I'm fine,” she muttered, returning to her slumped form on the floor near the rose bushes, hugging her knees. Rose hummed. She'd never seen Garnet look this unhappy.

“You're sure? You can talk to me about it, if you want.”

Garnet shook her head and stood up.

“There's nothing wrong!”

She turned and left the base hurriedly, leaping out of the hole in the undergrowth she had made for herself the time she'd tumbled in. At that moment, the nearby warp pad activated and Pearl emerged by way of the main entrance a few seconds later.

“Was that Garnet?” she asked, looking bewildered. “She didn't even stop when I called out to her.”

“I think she's upset about something,” Rose explained. She pulled Pearl into a warm hug and pressed a kiss of greeting to the top of her head. “She didn't seem to want to talk about it, but I'm certain that's the case. She's been sulking by the rose bushes since sunrise.”

“I can try to talk to her,” Pearl offered. “Outcast to outcast. It might do her good, she's always trying so hard to please you.”

“I know, and I wish she'd just be honest with me,” sighed Rose. “It's not like she doesn't want to please you too, Pearl. I think she's afraid of you.”

“Well, she'll have to get over that,” Pearl said gruffly, arms folded. “How are we supposed to be on the same team if she's afraid of me? This talk will do the both of us some good, then.”

“I think maybe we should give her some time to cool down,” Rose suggested lightly, rubbing the small of Pearl's back reassuringly. “Did you find anything on the sky arena when you checked back?”

“Not at all. They have all fled to a new location by now, Rose...”

 

…

 

The sun was beginning to set when Pearl had decided enough was enough.

“I'm going to look for her, Rose. She needs to come back before it gets dark anyway, or she'll get lost. You remember the incident three nights ago.”

“I do. Please bring her back safe, my Pearl.” She reached for her small hand and gave it a quick reassuring peck before Pearl slipped away from her and out of the entrance. The world outside was aglow with orange, pinks and reds, and Pearl couldn't help but smile. She really did love the Earth.

Garnet was surprisingly difficult to find, given how her hair stood out against the deep green palette of the Earth, but finally Pearl located her hiding in a nearby cave. There were remnants of a fire that must have been over a month old.

“Garnet?”

Garnet flinched and slowly craned her neck to face Pearl.

“Please... leave me alone...”

“It's getting dark,” pointed out Pearl, as she picked her way through the cave towards where Garnet was crouched.

Garnet turned away again and muttered, “Don't care.”

Pearl sat down beside her and said nothing for a few moments. The silence stretched on and she finally murmured, “What's on your mind, Garnet?”

“Nothing,” barked Garnet, hugging her knees as best she could.

“Three consciousnesses in one head and you're telling me nothing's on your mind?” Pearl attempted to joke. The joke fell flat when Garnet glared at her, and her uneasy smile fell.

“Garnet... you know you can talk to me, don't you?” Pearl asked hesitantly. “I know I haven't been the most _welcoming,_ but-”

“You don't get it, do you?” snapped Garnet. “How could you? You don't know me! You don't know anything about me, you're a pearl and I'm a fusion! You don't know what it's like to be the, the only one of your kind! I'm far away from Homeworld and I'm lonely and I, I _know_ this is the right thing and the right life but sometimes it just feels so-”

“Wrong? Misguided? Defective?” Pearl finished for her. Garnet said nothing, staring ahead of her dully. “Maybe I don't know how you feel exactly, but I know how you _might_ feel. I feel it too, sometimes.”

“But you're strong,” Garnet spat. “You're strong, and, and you're motivated, and... you have Rose.”

“You have Rose too,” insisted Pearl. “And you have me. Just because you and I are different, it doesn't mean we have to suffer alone. And Garnet? You're strong. Trust me, I wouldn't be telling you so if it weren't true.”

Garnet took some time to consider this. It was true, come to think of it, that Pearl rarely gave out compliments to her (she couldn't say the same about Rose, whom Pearl none so subtly gushed over on a near daily basis). She always figured that Pearl was just having a hard time trusting her still. Perhaps it was to do with being a pearl, and being forced to hand out false compliments to White Diamond for so long in her old life on Homeworld.

Garnet curled in on herself. “Ruby always wondered if life on Homeworld – our duties, our assigned roles – if that was all there was. But she knew it was defective to dream of such things, so she shut it off.”

Pearl nodded solemnly.

“I used to feel the same. Until one day, I couldn't shut it off any longer. I'm sure you've heard rumours about how I... defected. People like to say it's because of the ovular shape to my gem, but that's not true. They won't tell gems this, but the best of the pearls are the ones who are formed naturally, rather than through artificial impregnation of a nacre. I myself was born through a nacre, but she was an old one who wasn't implanted artificially with the substance they use to make the perfectly round pearls, so I grew baroque instead. We... we can't listen to what other gems say about us, because it's designed to shut us down.”

Garnet stared at the gems embedded in both palms and Pearl gave a dry laugh.

“White Diamond thought she knew better. She knew that naturally formed pearls were more emotional and efficient, which was something she found pleasing, so she didn't care what other gems said about me behind her back. However, what she didn't account for was that naturally formed pearls don't come with the code implant telling us how to behave, how to stay unfeeling and cold forever. In the end, she didn't expect her own assistant pearl to stab her in the back. By which, of course, I mean figuratively.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Garnet asked sharply.

“...Well, so that the idea that you're wrong never crosses your mind.” Pearl offered. “And so that you can always remember that 'defects' have their merits. You think _they're_ perfect? The entire hierarchy is a farce; as far as they're concerned, the good gems are the ones who stand in line and never speak up, not the ones who can teach themselves to summon weapons-” She gestured towards herself, “-or the ones who can stay themselves because of the love that binds them-” Pearl gestured a hand at Garnet, who blushed at the praise, “-or... the ones who dare to dream for change.” She plucked a pink petal from the ground and ran a thumb over its velvety surface.

Garnet stared at her hands for the longest time.

“...So you never think there could be something wrong with you?” Garnet asked quietly. “And you never think that maybe you shouldn't be here?”

Pearl shook her head.

“No, I get those thoughts all the time. I don't know if it's something that can ever be shut off, to be honest with you. But if you have something to think about – a goal, a dream, something that keeps you going, that's what you have to do.” Pearl watched Garnet seriously. “Rose and I couldn't be fighting without you, Garnet. So think about the impact you have on our team.”

Garnet did think. She chewed her lip.

“It's just... I think Ruby and Sapphire need to work some things out, still. I'm getting better at thinking like me rather than them, but I don't think they're completely okay with what they did either. Maybe they need to do that on their own.”

“Maybe,” echoed Pearl. “But you know, Garnet... I may not have been all too friendly with you to begin with, but please know that whether you choose to stay fused or to split apart, the Crystal Gems still need you, okay? That much isn't going to change, regardless of what you choose to do.”

Garnet nodded, and hugged her knees.

“Pearl?”

“Yes, Garnet?”

“...Lets head back.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might introduce ruby and sapphire for a few chapters next, since i have a couple of suggestions in the comments about those two splitting up and spending some quality time together. of course, these haven't been chronological so far, so i guess i can just do whatever the hell i want

**Author's Note:**

> this is just gonna be a short collection of misadventures of the baby faced crystal gems, so i'm not promising regular updates. please leave a comment if you thought it was cute or have any ideas for other topics i can cover?? i just want garnet to explore the world a bit you know??


End file.
